Copyright standard
When designer Pearl Lowe sold her rambling Somerset country house recently, it presented a rather pressing dilemma: where to rehome all her beloved vintage furniture and home accessories. With the buyer’s keys only weeks away, Lowe is in clearance mode when we meet in her charming Notting Hill pied-à-terre. Her mission? To list her prized possessions on her website and social media in a coveted interiors sale. The first drop goes live today. “The buyer is moving in. I need everything out. So I am essentially hosting a big vintage fair online,” she says. Run, don’t walk to snap up Lowe’s signature boho discoveries. From velvet armchairs to an antique mirrored dresser and Florentine side tables, Lowe’s flair for pre-loved grandeur makes for quite the collection. It is a bright autumnal morning when I arrive at Lowe’s flat, the door already ajar as her husband, Supergrass musician husband Danny Goffey, pops out to the local market. She pours me a coffee while I sink into the sofa alongside her adorable dog, Doris. “Home for me is cosiness, warmth and family,” says Lowe. She settles into a velvet Soho Home armchair surrounded by beautiful blooms by Julia Gordon Floral Studio, wonderfully worn rugs and antique lamps. “I come from a big family, I have four children and a grandchild, and I just feel that home is so important.” That sense of sanctuary hits the moment you step into the apartment. Sitting prettily on a pastel-coloured Notting Hill street, it has a private entrance and stairs that open straight into the living space. “When the estate agent first told me about this place, I thought it was too small. It only has two bedrooms and we were hoping for at least three, but the moment I stepped inside, I just loved it and knew we would make it work,” she says. The double-height ceilings and original cornicing make it feel generous. The previous owner had laid shiny engineered flooring but Lowe insisted on peeling it back. Underneath was the original flooring — pale wood, sanded, then painted a deep charcoal after the varnish turned bright orange. “Now I quite love the contrast with the rugs,” she beams. The effect is simultaneously calm and rich in texture. Lowe, who has published the third interiors book in her Faded Glamour series, describes the way she decorates as “rock ’n’ roll romance” with a bit of edge. Her latest instalment, which features the homes of supermodel Helena Christensen and artist Jonathan Yeo, hones in on cities and urban living, which feels rather timely as she returns to London after a 20-year hiatus. “I usually have a design vision as soon as I see a home,” she says, gesturing to the open-plan living, dining and kitchen space. She had wanted to transform it into a dramatic, boudoir-style sleeping area — “imagine big glass doors, with a bath, kind of hippie-cool” — but Goffey insisted on an entertaining space. “As long as it did not look like a kitchen, I was open to it,” she says. “I wanted it to feel more like a bar where friends could come and have a drink.” The compromise paid off. The room is sumptuous and sociable, perfect for gatherings. Her roots are reflected in the way she likes to live. Lowe grew up in a bustling household, full of people: “Our door was open to all my brother’s friends, my friends — it was loud, full of movement. I have recreated that in my own way.” Her pied-à-terre, though fairly modestly sized at 880 sq ft, still holds that energy: layered rugs, vintage lamps, gathered objects, space for everybody to linger. Her cabinetry is by deVOL. The palette is Mizzle and Setting Plaster by Farrow & Ball. “I was away while it was being installed,” she recalls. “I FaceTimed my mum who was at the flat with the builders, and I initially panicked that I had chosen the wrong colour. I think it was the lighting on camera because when I saw the Mizzle in person I really liked it.” Mirrored tiles by Fired Earth make for a glamorous splashback, while antique lights that she bought from a dealer on Instagram cast long, mellow shadows. Vintage furniture is always at the heart of Lowe’s aesthetic. “Instagram is a nightmare,” she laughs. “I just follow dealers and find these unbelievable things.” A grand mirror found on eBay, a mirrored coffee table from The Old Cinema in Chiswick and sketches dating back to 1910 from Dore & Rees auction house in Frome are just a few of the seating area’s other trinkets. “I only ever buy things that have a past. If I buy something, I think about who owned it and where it has lived. I am the custodian until the next owner arrives.” It is her passion for collecting beautiful objects that led to her online business selling vintage homewares: “I would find all these beautiful things but I was running out of space for them. So I started to get someone to photograph everything and put it on my website. Then it became a business.” She also creates her vintage-inspired fashion collections, always handmade in Somerset, and recently debuted the Faded Glamour Pearl Lowe scented candle in collaboration with master perfumer Azzi Glasser. Lowe’s roots in Somerset still run strong. Despite her London move, she and Goffey remain on the lookout for their next country house. “I still think of it as home, with our community and our friends,” she says. “But when my youngest went to Bristol University, we realised that we were done with school runs and suddenly had more time on our hands. “London has the galleries, the theatres, the restaurants, the gigs. It gives me a creative buzz, so having a pied-à-terre here felt really exciting.” Notting Hill was calling: antiques shops line the streets, Lowe is already on first-name terms with the Portobello stall holders and Golborne Road’s interiors shops are irresistible. “It takes me ages to get around, because everyone wants to have a chat,” she laughs. Amid the conversation, we wander through her favourite room: the family bathroom. Pink striped Bert & May metro tiles and brass fixtures feel fabulously decadent alongside a freestanding bath by BC Designs and a deVOL basin. Lowe’s bedroom is centred around a French cane bed with Tori Murphy curtains and Salon Drab-painted Farrow & Ball walls. The second bedroom, mainly used by her daughter Betty, is enveloped in Mulberry Home striped red wallpaper, lights by Rothschild & Bickers and mirrored bedside tables. She has added her twist to the Soho Home bed with vintage fabric on the headboard. When asked which piece she treasures most, Lowe shares the tale of The Beast: an enormous Italian cabinet she discovered on eBay. “I measured the length because I wanted to put the TV on it in our Somerset home,” she says. She did not check the height and underestimated its vastness. When four men delivered it and the kids were perched on the sofa, they all said: “Mum, this is not going to work.” However, Lowe always had a soft spot for it. When she sold the Somerset house and moved into the flat, The Beast moved with her. “Funny how things turn out.” As I leave, the sun falls through the tall sash windows; I notice the chandelier twinkling above the Turkish-style rug (an Etsy find) and ostrich feathers fluttering above the mantlepiece. The space feels varied, age-rich, anchored by personality. Lowe has a knack for making the opulent feel cocooning. While she closes one door, she opens another and thanks to her vintage sale, we are all invited in. Follow @pearllowe and check pearllowe.co.uk for the vintage collection drop, launching exclusively with the Londonn Standard today (October 30). Faded Glamour in the City by Pearl Lowe is published by CICO Books (£25) Photography by Kate Martin © CICO Books
